Once Robert stepped out of his carriage, he was attacked right in front of his townhouse. A shoulder was dug painfully into his ribs, sending him to the floor. Right above him, he noticed the familiar cold eyes and glasses. But before it could become clear to him, a punch landed on his face.

"You bastard!" The man yelled.

Robert tossed the man away from him and his boxing instincts kicked in.

He dashed to him and jabbed him in the stomach, forcing his attacker to cough. The man picked up sand from the floor and poured it into Robert's eyes.

"Argh," The Marquess covered his eyes with his hands as he tried to remove the tiny grains of sand.

He wasn't given much time and the man in glasses crashed his fist into Robert's cheek. The pain surged through his body, giving him an unbelievable headache.

"Fucking hell," Robert slapped the man, his glasses flying off his dark eyes. The both of them now in severe pains, took the chance to glare at each other. Who would've known Ella's father had such violence in him? Did Gerrard send him here to kill him?

At the same time, both of them brought out their pistols and aimed them at each other. Robert couldn't believe he was pointing a gun at Ella's father. But he could not be trusted. He had been working alongside Gerrard all this while. There was no saying what he could do.

"Why are you here?" Robert asked. Luckily, no one could see both of them because the Carriage shielded them from the road. But Mr Griffith stood at the entrance of the building, watching the entire scene with alarm in his eyes.

"You fucking whore! You made a fucking bet to use my daughter!" Mr Featherington yelled, shaking his gun furiously, his eyes red with rage. "How could you?"

"I didn't do such a thing. Gerrard is lying."

"And you even made her wear male clothes and work for you. What sort of bloody kink is that?"

That wasn't a kink. It was a situation he found himself in because of his honour as a gentleman. Once again, frigg England and their societal rules.

"Do you even know why she did that?"

"Wore men's cloth?"

"She did it because she wanted to make the moon lamp with me and make you proud. She was tired of you thinking she was not smart enough and decided to do something about it."

Mr Featherington's rage seemed to be replaced with surprise and his eyes were weighed with guilt. Ella was his daughter, but he had failed as a father. He was meant to support her.

"And you dare come here and yell at me when you're working for the very person who is trying to make her dream not come true." Robert brought down his gun and fixed it inside his shoulder holster. "All she ever wanted to do was make you proud, Mr Featherington."

He took backward steps and fell onto the stair carelessly, shock written all over his face. His hands ran down his face as he put back his gun in his waistcoat. There was silence between the men for a minute before Mr Featherington spoke again.

"So all this while, she was willing to go to this extent just to make me proud of her." He buried his face in his hands. "Shite! I've been a bad father."

"I love your daughter, Mr Featherington," Robert said, looking down at him. Mr Featherington glanced at the former rake and Robert assumed he was contemplating whether it was a good idea to let a retired rake fall in love with his daughter. "I would never do anything to hurt her."

"God, I feel terrible."

"Let's go inside and talk more. Maybe we could find a way for you to make it up to your daughter."

Robert extended a hand to help Mr Featherington up. The man picked up his glasses and wore them. Then he stared longingly at Robert, his gaze hard and scrutinising. Slapping his lover's father wasn't a good first impression. But at least they were having small talk. That was something.

"You better not do anything to Ella or I'll skin you alive." Mr Featherington took Robert's hand and he pulled him up.

"My intentions with your daughter are nothing but pure."

My God, you're a good liar!

But it was true—except for the dances they did in his bed. He never saw Ella as whore. If anything, he saw her as someone he would love to spend the rest of his life with. She was all he ever needed.

****

"I have to say, I never thought the both of us would ever have a conversation in the same room," Robert said, pouring Mr Featherington some whiskey from his bourbon.

"Thank you," he raised his glass and gulped down the drink in one go. Jesus. He probably was going through a lot. Robert understood how hard it could be for Mr Featherington to have his family under the scope of London's gossipers.

The fact that he was here without Gerrard could mean two things; he was here to kill Robert or he had decided to join forces with him, considering Gerrard did such a bad thing to Ella.

"Do you want another one?" Robert asked, gesturing at the bourbon on the dining table.

"Yes please." Robert didn't notice it earlier because of their fist fight. But Mr Featherington looked like he hadn't slept in aeons. The dark circles under his sleepy eyes were a great indication.

Robert poured him more whiskey and sat back in his seat—across from Mr Featherington. "So, why are you here?" Robert drank whiskey from his glass cup. "I assume you're not here to kill me."

"I can change my mind at any moment."

"But you wouldn't, would you?" Robert leaned in. "I'm the only person capable of going toe to toe with Gerrard. After what he did to your daughter, I doubt you'll want to work for him."

Robert was being reminded of how he wasn't good enough at whatever he did. He couldn't even prevent a hazard like this from happening. Gerrard was a true arse.

Mr Featherington stirred his whiskey with his hand on the glass. "I take it that you've met Mrs Tucker."

"Ella knows."

"Fuck," he said reclining in his seat. The fair afternoon light skimmed past his hard face, his dark eyes shaking with sadness. "How was her reaction?"

"She was confused and though she didn't say it, I'm sure she is angry at you," Robert said, closing his hands together.

"I should've told her the truth a long time ago. I got home earlier today. She didn't even want to speak to me. I've been a very bad father. Today was even the first day I tried to see her after her coma." Mr Featherington sighed. "I can imagine how much she hates me now. I was helping Gerrard ruin my daughter's life."

"Why did you help Gerrard do this?"

"You think if I knew, I would've let him?" Mr Featherington shook his head, his fingers on the bridge of his nose. "He hid everything from me. I never of the bet he did with you. I never knew Ella was working for you. I never knew he was going to do this."

"I want to clarify things about that bet. Gerrard met me during the Starklington ball and claimed he could make any woman fall for him just like I always did. I thought it absurd because all the time I've known him, he has always been trying to prove he was better than me. That was when he chose Ella and claimed he could woo her."

"I don't even understand his unusual obsession to hurt you in every way he can."

"But you helped him."

Mr Featherington's eyes went pitch black as he fell into deep thought. His finger rubbed against the surface of his glass cup and silence stretched between them for a minute. When Mr Featherington finally spoke it felt like an eternity of silence was brought to an end.

"Gerrard had me on his strings, Your Lordship. I've done some bad things. Very bad things. And if they went into the open, my family would lose me."

Robert gulped. He could already think of the sort of bad things Ella's father was talking about. Anyone working close to Gerrard must've digged their hands into a pot of sin. That was the influence he had on people around him.

"So are you still working with him?"

"Fuck no." Mr Featherington gulped down the whiskey. "No one messes with my daughter. That was when Gerrard crossed the line."

"So what do you plan to do?"

"To help you."

"And how would you do that?" Robert raised a brow.

"The only way to stop the spread of a rumour is to bring up a more interesting one." He sighed deeply. "And that is where I come in. But before we proceed with this plan, I would like to call a meeting for everyone who knows the truth about what's going on now. We should all meet at my house tomorrow morning."

"I'll let the Captain know about it."

The men shook hands and then Ella's father left. Robert watched his palm like it was the most unusual thing in the universe. He just shook the hand of Ella's father who was a former enemy and now a new ally. Maybe all hope was not lost yet. They had to keep fighting.

***